


Only fools rush in (But I can't help falling)

by Self_conscious_mess



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: But he's trying, Dancing, Fluff and impure thoughts, High School, Liam doesn't understand how feelings work, M/M, Nightmares, Pining, Side Morey, Sooooo much pining, Thirsting, cheerleading, crop tops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:40:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21720067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Self_conscious_mess/pseuds/Self_conscious_mess
Summary: Theo signs up for cheerleading, and it all kind of snowballs from there. Or basically 9k of Liam having a gay panic because of Theo, dance, and crop tops. I wish I had, but I have no explanation"Liam started jogging anew, ready to turn back to the lacrosse game, when it all went downhill. There, standing between two girls with high skirts and ponytails, was Theo. Real, flesh and blood Theo. Dancing and cheering and smiling.Liam crashed into Corey."
Relationships: Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt, Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 16
Kudos: 114





	Only fools rush in (But I can't help falling)

**Author's Note:**

> "I'm going to try and post many Thiam fics!" - me, at some point, like the fool that I am  
> I'm so slow at writing I might as well be a snail  
> It took me seven months to write this and it's not even long. And it doesn't have a plot. I'm tired  
> Anyway thanks to my angel Pauline for the beta and the support  
> See you guys in a century or so  
> *tosses fic at you and flees*

Liam face-planted so hard he ate grass.

“Get off your ass and run, Dunbar!”

Coach's voice rang sharply in the limpid vernal air, piercing through Liam's disorientated mind.

He thought he had seen – he must have been mistaken. Surely his brain was too sleep-deprived, what with the final exams coming closer with each passing day and pack stuff springing up every other week, and Liam was seeing things again. But even awake, this time. Great. What a truly amazing way to help him survive the end of the year.

Liam pushed himself off the ground, jumping back on his two feet and into the game, weighing the lacrosse stick in his hands. He plunged himself back into practice, keeping his eyes on the ball and on the net, trying his best to concentrate.

And yet, he was itching to turn his head just a quarter to the right – just a smidgen, nothing at all really, it was hardly a matter of craning his head, more like tilting it slightly – and check whether it had all been an illusion.

The temptation proved to be too great to resist, and when he succeeded to score – not even using his werewolf abilities, he was getting good at lacrosse, mind you –, successfully distracting his team and Coach Finstock who was hollering “That's what a captain does, Dunbar!”, he cast a quick glance towards the edge of the field.

The cheerleaders were here indeed, rehearsing their acrobatic moves in a flurry of white and maroon, keeping pace with their chanting. But all of that was expected. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Maybe Liam was blowing a fuse after all?

He started jogging anew, ready to turn back to the lacrosse game, when it all went downhill.

There, standing between two girls with high skirts and ponytails, was Theo.

Real, flesh and blood Theo. Dancing and cheering and smiling.

Liam crashed into Corey.

***

“So, uhm. I've seen that you've decided to sign up for an activity after class?”

Voice as neutral as possible, Liam tried to keep a steady heartbeat and a straight face as he questioned Theo during the trip back home.

The confined space of Theo's truck pressed heavily on his chest, a strange sensation Liam experienced whenever his nerves got the best of him. It was even stranger that he was experiencing it _now_. Why would he be nervous? He was just asking his tentative friend and new housemate about his life. Typical everyday stuff. No need to get keyed up. Who was keyed up? Not him, that was for sure. Cool as a cucumber, _that_ was how he felt. Right.

His internal freak-out was interrupted as he caught a whiff of subtle embarrassment, just as quickly covered as it had appeared, wafting off from the boy sitting behind the wheel. Theo's eyes were trained on the road, and the curve of his right shoulder was misleadingly relaxed. But when he answered, his voice was composed, the perfect blend of casual and confident that went hand in hand with Theo's persona.

“Yeah, I thought, now that I have to wait for you to be finished with lacrosse to leave this stupid school, I may as well do something, you know.”

Liam nodded, expecting Theo to go on. The silence stretched in the car, billowing thickly between them in awkward wisps. Liam cleared his throat. Better to say it straight away, leaving it bottled up was only making things worse.

“And so. Uhm. Cheerleading?”

The blonde winced at the obvious strain in his own voice. Jesus. What an awkward moment in the grand history of awkward moments.

This time, Liam was pretty sure he hadn't made up the pink tinge colouring Theo's cheeks.

“It seemed cool.”

The tone was definite, and Liam was perceptive enough not to push too far. He nodded again and turned to watch the streets as they neared the Geyer's house. He had not meant to embarrass Theo, and seeing the other boy so flustered over a conversation was definitively new. Good new, though. It was kind of adorable, if Liam had to be completely honest. Which was new too, as far as Theo was concerned. Seductive, sexy, cocky – yes. Adorable, not so much. But Liam may have to revise his judgement.

Theo pulled up in the Geyer's driveway, and both boys hopped off the truck. As they made for the door, Liam couldn't help but notice that the other boy's stride was hesitant as he came closer to the house's door, as if he was still unsure of whether he would be allowed to step in. It made something in Liam's chest ache.

Theo had only been living with Liam and his family for two weeks now, ever since Liam had discovered about Theo sleeping and living in his truck, exposed the situation to Jenna and David, and been supplanted by his mom in the “Give Theo A Home” crusade. Even the big bad chimera of death was no match for a determined Jenna.

He had moved in the guest room across Liam's own bedroom, and the latter had thought they would clash all the time. Surprisingly, Theo had made himself scarce from the outset, as if apologizing for his presence. He had taken on every chores, as if he had to repay a debt, until Jenna and David stepped in and put a halt to it.

Theo had behaved a bit more normally since that intervention, eventually fighting pettily with Liam every other day just as the latter had expected, but his body language was still cautious and reserved at times, as if he was on borrowed time. Liam hoped things would gradually change. It was weird to see Theo acting like that, and the blonde didn't like the even weirder things it made him feel.

“You wanna play video games?” Liam asked innocently, hoping that beating up fictional characters with him all evening would make Theo feel more at ease.

The brunette nodded silently, but the small hint of a smile was grazing his lips.

***

Liam was tossing around, unable to sleep. He just. Couldn't. Stop. Thinking.

He had not been able to get a good look at Theo during practice – running into Corey had put an end to the quick once-over he had been almost shamelessly doing. And now, he couldn't remember for the life of him whether Theo had worn a cheerleading uniform or not.

And yeah, it seemed like a stupid thing to obsess over, but. BUT. Wasn't the male uniform tight booty shorts or something? If so, Liam _had_ to know. For science. And also because he needed to be mentally prepared for the sight, or he would embarrass himself for sure.

Liam sighed, burrowing further into the heavy blankets, only to kick them off twenty seconds later. The air had been warming up for a few weeks now that spring was thriving, and Liam ran hot since he had become a werewolf. He laid there for a while, torn between opening the window to cool off and staying supine in his bed, too comfortable to stand up.

In the end, the need overrode his laziness, and he got out of bed, grumbling about stupid heat and stupid werewolf metabolism. The cool air of the night engulfed the room as soon as the window was opened, and Liam took a deep calming breath, clearing his thoughts. He really had to sleep now, or waking up the next morning would be hell. Maybe if he drank some water? It helped sometimes. He really should keep a bottle next to his bed or something, getting up in the middle of the night just for a glass of water was worse than being shot with wolfsbane. No, he wasn't dramatic. At all.

Liam padded softly out of his bedroom, making for the bathroom – the kitchen was waaaaay too far – when he stopped dead in his tracks. He had heard something.

Liam squinted, holding his breath, and listened intently, standing in the dark corridor. There it was again, that soft noise coming from the door a few steps ahead from him. It sounded like a frightened whimper. Was Theo all right?

The blonde bit his lip. He had never heard Theo having a nightmare before, but then again the brunette had only been here for two weeks, and Liam had not felt the need to leave his room at ass o'clock before that very night. Perhaps Theo was plagued by nightmares every single night? It would make sense. Liam himself often had a hard time when he eventually fell asleep, and he had not gone to hell.

The question swirled in Liam's head. Was Theo all right? And why did it matter so much? The chimera had been trying to kill him and his friends not a year ago. Why would Liam care?

The blonde began to retreat to his bedroom. Surely his housemate's nightmares were none of his business. But a distressed moan, ringing louder in the quiet of the house, stayed his feet.

Liam hovered near the door, dithering for a few seconds longer, before making up his mind, his features hardening in determination. He walked into Theo's bedroom with purposeful but silent steps, lest he wake the other boy up too suddenly and scare him to death.

Liam's heart did a weird seizing thing at the sight that greeted him. A few rays of moonlight, filtering through the blinds, pierced the darkness smothering the room, and fell on the bed in wavering spots of silver. Theo was thrashing among the covers, a slight sheen of sweat covering his exposed skin and contrasting with the goosebumps strewn over his limbs.

Liam kneeled down beside the bed and reached out. Theo's skin was clammy, his dark hair sticking out as he writhed on his pillow. Soft, scared sounds were falling from his lips, along with half garbled words that didn't make sense, and Liam couldn't take it anymore. If he had a nightmare that bad, he would want someone to help him for sure.

He tried gently shaking Theo's shoulders as the brunette mumbled, for the third time in a row, “It's okay. You don't have to stop.” The words were infused with fear, and Liam shook him harder.

“Theo, wake up. Theo, come on, wake up now,” the blonde pleaded, his tone laced with urgency.

Theo gasped, and blinked his eyes open, lifting himself off on his elbows. He looked dazed, and confused, and scared still.

“Li-Liam?” the words were whisper-soft, tentative and fragile.

“Yeah, it's me, you were having a nightmare.” Liam sent him a small smile, trying to reassure the disorientated boy. “It's okay now. You're okay.”

Theo nodded, but his regular guarded expression was taking over his features. He glanced down at Liam's hands, which were still on his arms, and now rubbing circles in the muscle in a soothing motion, and the blonde removed his hands with a jerk, internally berating himself for making it weird.

“Why are you here?” Theo asked, his voice wary.

“You were having a nightmare,” Liam repeated, sending the other boy an are-you-dumb-look.

“That doesn't explain why you're here,” the brunette insisted, defensively crossing his arms around his chest. He suppressed a shiver, as if the cold was seeping through his bones – which was ridiculous in Liam's opinion, Theo's bedroom was way too warm to sleep, what the fuck.

“Nightmares suck,” Liam shrugged, as if there was nothing more to add.

Theo nodded again, and silence fell between them, spreading and coating the furniture, the walls and the carpet. Liam clicked his tongue, a nervous habit he couldn't seem to get rid off. Theo shivered once more.

“You should go back to sleep,” Liam said, quietly.

Another nod.

“Do you think you'll be able to sleep?”

The brunette bit his lip, as if trying to contain what he wanted to say. Liam remembered the long sleepless nights that followed the worst of his nightmares, the crushing loneliness and the fear of plunging back again in the bad dreams, alone.

“Okay,” Liam murmured, more to himself than to the other boy. “Okay,” he repeated, more resolutely. “Scoot over.”

Theo's head snapped up so fast Liam started.

“What?” the brunette squinted his eyes, his tone imbued with confusion.

“Don't make it harder than it has to be,” Liam rolled his eyes. “I'll sleep beside you and we'll both catch some sleep. Win-win situation here. Now scoot over, chop chop!”

The wariness was still there, but Theo moved nonetheless to make some place for Liam to lie down. The brunette seemed far calmer than before, if a bit twitchy, but he seemed still worked up from his nightmare, or so Liam deduced – it explained why Theo's cheeks seemed so flushed.

Theo turned his back to Liam as he settled under the covers, but the blonde didn't remark upon it – he would have been embarrassed himself if the other boy had caught him in such a vulnerable state – and set out on finding a comfortable enough position.

Theo pulled up the blankets over the both of them, swathing the secure heat of the cocoon around them. Liam thought it was stifling hot already, but the chimera still looked shaken, and the occasional shiver still wracked his body.

Liam could handle a few hours in high temperatures, after all. No big deal.

He worried for a few moments, thinking that, in such conditions, he would definitely stay awake, but he concentrated on the warmth emitting from the finally loose body lying close to him, on the evening out of Theo's breathing pattern as he relaxed and fell back asleep, on the regular and soothing beating of his heart.

And soon enough, wrapped up in Theo's presence, Liam fell asleep too.

***

“And how was it when you woke up?” Mason asked, and Liam groaned over his mouthful of spicy chicken breast.

Theo and Liam had carefully avoided the subject of The Awkward and Unpremeditated Slumber Party, a subject which was never to be mentioned in broad daylight. _It had not happened_ was their watchword.

But apparently, Mason had not received the memo, bringing it up a hundred times a day since Liam had told him about it. Even now, when Liam was supposed to be safely eating in the cafeteria, he had to endure his best friend's boundless curiosity.

And as they did not share their lunch break with Theo on most days, nothing could prevent Mason from prying into Liam's ridiculous life. Worse, it seemed that he had actively discussed the matter with Corey, for his boyfriend never hesitated to jump in with questions of his own when he was there. Liam really needed new friends.

That day, Mason and Corey had once again teamed up to worm information out of the blonde. They were watching him with innocent eyes, their full attention focused on him, and Liam felt his cheeks flame with embarrassment.

“I-I don't remember exactly,” Liam began, only to be cut off by his traitor of a best friend.

“Bullshit!” Mason's grin bordered on maniacal. “You're lying.”

The blonde glared at him, protesting :

“You're not supposed to be able to tell, Mase! You're human!”

“I don't need superwolfy abilities to tell when my best friend is lying, Liam,” Mason teased. “You're ridiculously easy to decipher.”

“No I'm not,” Liam pettily retorted, casting furious eyes at Corey, who was badly hiding a smirk.

“Sure, you're not,” the chimera assured him with laughter in his voice.

Liam huffed, leaning back and crossing his arms, the very picture of aggravation – but he wasn't really peeved. He was just trying to gain time to find something convincing to tell them.

“Soooo?” Mason revived the discussion after a glorious moment of silence.

“Nothing exciting, really,” Liam answered flippantly after having set on a strategy. “Theo had already got up and left the bedroom when I woke up.”

Mason squinted, suspicious, and Liam stared right back, schooling his features and keeping a stiff upper lip the best he could.

“Yeah, right,” his best friend finally snorted.

However, he seemed to think he had tormented Liam enough, and dropped the subject to chit-chat with Corey. Liam internally sighed in relief at being let off the hook.

Mason could _never_ know what had really happened. He would never let him live it down.

Because the truth was – the truth was that Theo had still been there when Liam had woke up. And Theo had not _only_ still been there when Liam had woke up. _Theo had been in Liam's arms when Liam had woke up_.

Which had led to a slightly undignified but absolutely befitting freak-out. Liam was _spooning_ Theo. He had an armful of soundly sleeping, preciously drooling Theo Raeken. He had every right to be panicking! And he had just thought that Theo drooling was _precious_! He was totally, completely, utterly allowed to be panicking.

Eventually, Liam had slowly, soundlessly weaselled out of bed, and had not thought _at all_ about the adorable way Theo had scrunched up his nose and twitched in his sleep at the loss of heat.

When Liam had come down the stairs and into the kitchen, his mom had had the decency not to comment on the wild state of his appearance, and he had eaten his breakfast with the rest of his dignity. The ride to school in Theo's truck had been awkward to say the least. Awkward sure was the keyword in Liam's life these days.

So yeah, no telling Mason about all that.

Liam was roused from his thoughts by Corey's anxious inquiry.

“You ready for practice? Coach said he was going to have us doing a thousand drills if we didn't play better than last time, d'you think he'll follow through?”

The blonde winced.

“Coach's crazy on a good day. If he decides he wants us running till we can't move he'll definitely do it.”

Corey's face creased from worry, his eyes shifting nervously, and Liam immediately tried to reassure his friend.

“Don't worry, Corey. We got this.”

***

They didn't. They really _really_ didn't.

Because Liam was doing nothing but flailing around, and was totally failing his team. Coach's curses were raining down on them, and the other players were starting to give Liam the stink eye. But it wasn't Liam's fault! The cheers and chants were _way_ too loud! How could anyone expect him to concentrate??

He _was_ trying to ignore them, but it just didn't seem to work. He couldn't understand for the life of him why it was that hard, when he had never noticed them before.

Out of the corner of his eye, Liam caught sight of familiar bare muscled arms raised up in the air with glee, of skilled footwork that shouldn't be that skilled for a beginner, of clinging fabric on a broad chest and of skin-tight booty shorts framing a delectable-looking a–

Liam tripped over something and went down tumbling to the ground. He stayed there for a moment, motionless, lying prone on the field, until he heard somebody jog towards him. He staggered to his feet and looked down, searching for what had made him fall. But there was nothing to be seen.

Liam frowned, deep in his thoughts, and started when he felt a hand on his left shoulder. He spun round to find Corey staring at him, his eyes filled with concern.

“Liam, you okay? You've been acting real weird… Is there something wrong?”

The blonde was still bemused, and glanced towards the cheerleaders' squad before he could stop himself. Corey followed his line of sight, squinted, and gasped. Liam promptly averted his eyes and stared at the ground, trying to bore a hole in this stupid field of grass his face seemed to like so much.

“Is that–?”

The chimera's voice was suffused with awe, and if Liam were to look, he would have found him gaping at the sight.

“Is that Theo??” Corey finally got out.

“What. Where.” the blonde said through his teeth.

The other snorted.

“Wow, Liam. You really _are_ a shitty liar.”

The werewolf glowered at him. Corey had not taken his eyes off the squad and its rehearsal, while Liam's remained stubbornly fixed on his friend. He would _not_ look. He wasn't weak.

“He's actually pretty good!” Corey exclaimed, impressed.

Once again, the blonde glanced up before he could restrain his stupid stupid eyes. And fuck, they were swaying their hips now, Liam did _not_ need this image, thank you very much!

“So are you gonna do something about it?” Corey asked in a disinterested way.

“What do you want me do to? I can't ask them to tone down their chanting, they've got every right to rehearse here and however they want.”

“What? No, Liam, I was talking about your repressed fee–” the chimera cut himself off, and Liam finally tore his eyes from the dancing to cast a questioning glance at him.

“Never mind.” Corey shook his head, barely restraining a smile, and Liam felt like he was missing something.

“No, tell me, what is it?”

But the other boy was already turning round and walking away. Liam followed suit, whining.

“Coreeeey!”

***

“Hey Theo, mom asked i–”

Theo's startled yelp was not the answer Liam had expected when he had entered in the chimera's bedroom on the weekend that followed this truly disastrous week. But to be fair, perhaps Liam should have knocked before barging in. He could be so reckless sometimes. What if Theo had been changing clothes, or having some “alone time”? That would have been weird all right. But why was Liam even considering these possibilities?? _Liam_ was weird.

The werewolf's eyes suddenly focused on the paper Theo was crumpling in his left hand, while his right hand was slowly but steadily shutting his laptop down. Liam squinted, getting suspicious.

“What are you doing, Theo?” he asked, coming closer, to which the chimera responded with sliding backwards on the floor boards, the castor wheels under his desk-chair squeaking in the process, as he tried to keep a reasonable distance between them.

“What am I doing? I should be the one asking that, Liam, you could have knocked!” the brunette growled, but the tone was more defensive than angry.

This was all becoming more and more suspicious by the second.

“Yeah, sorry 'bout that,” the blonde apologized distractedly. His voice turned curious and he shuffled closer once again. “But seriously, what is it that you're holding? Show me!”

“It's nothing,” Theo answered in a rush, his heart missing a beat.

He slid a few inches farther backwards, but soon found himself backed up against the wall, trapped as Liam closed the distance between them. The blonde invaded Theo's personal space, and leaned down so they were at the same height, his eyes roving curiously over the pink hue spreading over the chimera's cheekbones. Liam then decided to attack him with the full force of his blue puppy eyes, hoping it would work on Theo as well as it always did on Mason.

The chimera averted his eyes, biting his lower lip, and for a second, the way the supple flesh reddened under the abuse was all Liam's brain could register. Then Theo sighed, and the werewolf internally jumped for joy.

“Really Liam, it's nothing,” the brunette repeated dejectedly, and his tone had almost turned sad, but he still opened his fist to let Liam fish the wrinkled paper out.

The blonde unfolded it carefully, and soon enough, he had before his eyes a leaflet about a dance school not far from BHHS. Apparently there were classes for about every possible type of dance, and the staff was amazingly talented, and the ambiance was super homey, and blah blah blah.

Liam's brows furrowed.

“I don't understand. Where did you find this?” he asked, raising his head to meet Theo's eyes, but the chimera seemed very interested in the wall at that moment.

Theo sighed again, and finally turned to face Liam.

“Corey. We talked yesterday about passions and stuff, and he gave me this.”

Liam flushed at the mention of Corey and of the day before. The blonde had made quite a fool out of himself, and he sure hoped Corey had not told Theo about that.

Liam glanced back down to the paper streaked with bright colours and striking lopsided poses.

“And uh,” the were started, clearing his throat. “You would like to go to some of these dancing lessons?”

Theo was back to avoiding his gaze, and he shrugged nonchalantly.

“I like to dance.”

Liam nodded, silent. Theo was good at cheerleading, if this week was any indication, and he would probably be good at dancing too. But now images of Theo practising smooth movements and flexing and stretching flooded Liam's brain, and the werewolf felt like he was steadily losing his sanity.

“Will you even have time for another activity?” Liam asked, trying to distract himself from his thoughts.

“I don't really know…” Theo was back to biting his lips, and Liam to staring. “I thought I could just like try a lesson or too, and then decide if I want to do the cheerleading more or less than the dancing?”

Another nod. That seemed quite reasonable. Liam stayed quiet, mulling it over, but the quietness must have been too awkward for Theo, as the chimera unexpectedly started to ramble on and on.

“Of course the real problem is money, 'cause cheerleading is cheaper as it is part of the school activities, and I don't even know how much a dancing school would cost, and it isn't written on the paper, so I'll have to go and find more information, but anyway I already started looking for a part-time job, I thought maybe I could find something not too time consuming and still paying well enough, but I don't know for now, I haven't found much on the internet yet, and it's all kinda rushed and I know it's weird but I kind of really, really want to try those lessons, because you know, I quite like. I mean I like. To dance. Yeah.” Theo trailed off awkwardly, the fast beat of his heart clear in the room.

Silence fell heavily between them.

Then Jenna's voice rang from downstairs, and they both jumped in fright.

“Liam! Asking whether Theo's okay with take-out shouldn't take you half an hour, sweetie!”

“Sorry mom!” Liam yelled back after having recovered from the shock.

His eyes had not left Theo, and the chimera looked rather uncomfortable under the scrutiny. The blonde's brows had furrowed further during Theo's rant, and the crease was yet to be smoothed out.

“You know, I'm sure mom and David will be okay with it,” Liam said, his voice gentle and low. “You don't have to pay for it yourself.”

Theo's head whipped up, confusion written all over his face.

“Liam, don't be ridiculous. Your family is already giving me somewhere to sleep and eat, I won't– I can't–”

Any further explanation was cut off by another call from Jenna.

“Boys, seriously, get down here, or we'll never eat tonight!”

Theo got up from his chair and tried to get past the other boy, but Liam grabbed his arm and stayed his flight.

“Just forget it, Liam, please?” the chimera asked, his whole demeanour screaming defensive.

“Theo, you know it's okay to like dancing, right? And it's okay if you want lessons.”

The other boy just shrugged, but Liam soldiered on.

“Let me talk about it with my mom. I promise it won't be a problem.”

“You don't have to take care of me,” Theo spit harshly, and tried to break Liam's grip, but it was unrelenting. “I don't need you.”

“Oh yeah, I know, you can survive alone in your car or whatever,” Liam rolled his eyes. “But don't you think it's high time you did something for fun? Without having to work yourself to death for it? It's not letting your guard down to admit that you want a bit more than what you have right now – it's normal. Accepting my help won't mean that you're weak, Theo.”

The chimera didn't seem to have any answer to that, and Liam's hand let him go.

“Just think about it, okay?”

Theo only nodded. Good enough for Liam, though. A nod was progress.

After a weird and lengthy eye-contact, the werewolf realized they had not yet moved from Theo's bedroom.

“Fuck, my mom's gonna kill us!”

***

It takes two full weeks and a combination of factors for Theo to bring up the subject.

Liam had almost forgotten about it ; their dynamic had reverted to some of their usual bantering and bickering and petty fighting, and so the blonde was reassured – his honestly strange behaviour towards Theo had not made their relationship uncomfortable for long.

And although Liam was _still_ being weird from times to times – when he stumbled upon Theo fresh out of the shower for instance, or when he once more saw Theo from up close during practice – he at least had built up some sort of resistance, and could now hold his own even if he was freaking out on the inside. See? Liam _could_ act normal when he wanted.

But another thing was that the werewolf felt more attuned to the other boy than ever before – probably because he now paid way more attention to Theo, to the slightest change in his expressions and chemosignals, and to each of his reactions whenever they spent time together. Incomprehensibly enough, Liam had now the weird urge to make sure Theo was enjoying himself – to make sure he was happy.

Nights were exceedingly hard. Liam would lay on his bed, torn by indecision. Should he find some excuse to go check up on Theo? The last time had been awkward enough, but surely awkwardness was better than fighting off nightmares alone? But Liam never got the courage to cross the corridor again.

So yeah, maybe their dynamic had not reverted as much to normal as Liam had hoped.

And well, the werewolf was not _that_ stupid. He may have been in denial for a while, but he knew what was happening.

“I have a crush on Theo,” he breathed out one day, sitting across from Mason at one of the tables in the middle of the school library, as they studied for the impending finals.

“You what?” Mason yelped. “Sorry,” he quickly apologized, sheepish, to the librarian and her death glare.

“Why are you so surprised? I thought you could read me like an open book,” Liam sassed.

“Oh no, I'm not surprised about you having a crush on Theo,” his best friend shook his head vehemently. “I've known for a long, long time, but I'm hella surprised you've realized that quickly.”

The werewolf spluttered in indignation, but didn't have time for a witty comeback, as Corey appeared beside Mason, and took a seat at their table, giggling in his hands.

“We even had a bet going on,” the chimera explained, laughter in his voice, and Liam scowled in embarrassment. “Mase lost, by the way. He thought you wouldn't realize until after the finals.”

“I'm not that dense!” the blonde protested.

“I beg to differ,” Corey retorted, “If it had not been for Theo joining the cheerleading team and your thirst surfacing full force, you wouldn't have known that quickly.”

“Yeah, well, I didn't know I had a thing for Theo dancing, okay?” Liam mumbled, before cutting himself off abruptly. He squinted. “Corey, _you_ gave Theo the leaflet about the dance school. Were you trying to fuck with me?”

Corey's eyes shot wide, the picture of innocence.

“What? Noooo. Theo's my friend, and I just wanted him to have the possibility to try what he liked. How could I know that it would get you horny?”

“I did not get horny,” Liam gritted out between his teeth, his cheeks flaming red.

“Wait wait wait,” Mase jumped in on the discussion, “Corey, that's cheating. You cheated. You can't win the bet like that.”

“It's not cheating! I was just helping out Theo!” the chimera exclaimed, turning to his boyfriend.

“Why are you talking about me, and why does it look like the librarian is that close from throwing you all out,” a bored voice sounded from a few meters afar, and the three friends startled with various degrees of dignity.

Theo was making his way towards them, probably out from his latest class. He shot a placating smile towards the librarian, charming her into letting the four of them stay. It worked, and Liam felt something a bit mean twist inside of his chest. The chimera sat beside Liam, his smile turning softer in greeting, and the werewolf felt that weird pang ease.

“I was only saying that I had wanted to help you out by giving you the info on dancing lessons, and I was wondering whether you had decided to try out yet,” Corey said with a cheeky grin as Theo was pulling his books out of his backpack.

Liam tried to send his best glare towards his friend, but Corey was ignoring him, and the werewolf turned to Theo just in time to see a flurry of emotions passing over his features, before the chimera smoothed it all out, control etched over his face.

“Yeah, well I had actually planned to talk about it with Liam tonight, so…” he said nonchalantly.

“Oh okay,” Corey said, an all-too-knowing glint in his eyes.

Liam sent what he meant to be an encouraging smile towards Theo, but the boy looked upset rather than encouraged – perhaps Liam was not the kind of guy who could give off encouraging vibes? He would have to ask Mason later, he thought, before immersing himself in his history revisions once again.

And that was how Liam, that day, forgot to talk to Mason about his probable crush.

***

Which was not so probable. Or rather, it was as probable a crush could be when it blew even more out of proportions with every passing day.

Liam and Theo had talked to Jenna that very same evening, and they had sorted out the dancing lessons issue, which – is not an issue at all, Theo, really, do you even have an inkling of how much Liam costed us in “fun” history books, sweetie?

Liam had made sure to rub in Theo's face how right he had been this whole time, but even while he was teasing the chimera, he could not help wanting to draw him closer and coo at him for being this adorable – for Theo _had_ been adorable, excited at the prospect of this leap in the unknown, and unable to stop smiling even though Liam was being infuriating about it.

But now here Liam was, his not so probable crush coming back to bite him in the ass as it slammed his emotions right onto his face each time the brunette did anything, letting him know that he did not, in fact, have the slightest bit of his feelings in check.

It had been two weeks since Theo had been taking dance lessons, and it was _torture_.

First off, the brunette had dancing clothes. Who needed dancing clothes?? Not Liam, that was for sure, and if Liam had any say in it, definitely not Theo. Theo _did not need_ to have more clothes that highlighted the lines and curves of his muscles or the overall silhouette of his body. And Liam definitely _did not need_ to see him in them.

Secondly, the chimera had apparently made _friends_ at those dancing lessons. Apparently Liam, Mason and Corey were not enough, and Theo-I-like-to-dance-Raeken just _had_ to go and find replacements. Apparently that Tracy person was super gracious, and that Josh dude had been dancing for years, and they were super nice and aaaaaargh. No, Liam was _not_ bitter. Nor jealous.

And last but not least, now that he was dancing, it seemed that the chimera felt the need to do flexibility exercises _each_ _damn_ _time_ Liam and Theo were chatting about something. Now, Liam would like to ask; was training to do a full split really all that necessary? And is it all that necessary to practice it exactly when Liam was trying to concentrate on making sense as he talked about history?

Fortunately for him, the werewolf could spout facts about Antiquity with his eyes closed and with three bottles of wolfsbane-laced alcohol – he already tried, and Mason was suitably impressed. So handling stomachy butterflies and traitorous hormones was child's play.

Which did not mean that Liam couldn't viciously glare at Theo for what the chimera was putting him through. Liam was sitting on his bed, raving with appropriate enthusiasm about the late years of the Roman Empire – the reasons behind its fall were fascinating, okay?? –, because Theo had _asked_ , no less, and had followed Liam to his bedroom to hear about it. But quickly, while humming and nodding from time to time to indicate he was still listening, the brunette had slid down from the bed to the carpeted floor, and had started stretching.

The werewolf found it already insulting that Theo could reach the sole of his feet with his hands that easily, but could not have prepared himself in a millions years for when the brunette spread his legs as far as they could go, and started leaning down towards the floor, the muscles of his thighs tensing and relaxing with the breaths he was steadily taking.

Liam continued to talk, keeping his heart rate and his chemosignals in check, but couldn't prevent his eyes from roving all over Theo's body, greedily taking in every detail, from the slight quiver rippling over his legs and arms when he pressed down too hard too fast, to the way he pushed back his pelvis to make it stay on the ground, and to the pink that was increasingly tingeing the chimera's cheeks, probably due to the exertion.

Liam couldn't remember why or how, but he now was blabbering about mythology. Great. Hopefully Theo wasn't _that_ focused on Liam's stories, or he might have questions.

“And so Clio is the Muse of history, and all nine of them are super pretty, obviously, but I guess Terpsichore would be the prettiest, because she's the Muse of dancing and chorus singing, and so she, she–” Liam cut himself off when he realized what he was saying, only to stammer unintelligently and finish lamely with a “she has legs.”

Theo raised his eyes from where he was trying to meld with the floor to frown at the werewolf.

“She has legs? Wow, Liam. You're even weirder than usual.”

Liam should _not_ be held responsible for the pillow he threw in Theo's face.

***

The building was not much to look at, but Liam was trying not to project his petty feelings onto the world, so he compromised and decided the building was plainly dull and stupid.

Someone elbowed him in the side to get him moving, and he sighed.

“Remind me, why are you two here again?”

“We're curious about it, just like you Liam,” Corey answered as he pushed open the door of the dancing school.

“And we wouldn't miss you making an idiot of yourself for the world,” Mason added with a huge grin.

Liam squawked. “I'm not gonna look like an idiot, Mase!”

“You're gonna drool all over yourself, Liam. We know you.” Corey said, levelling Liam with an unimpressed gaze.

The werewolf very maturely decided to ignore the jab and inspect his surroundings. Contrary to the exterior façade, the reception hall was definitely not nondescript, what with the bright red wall at the back and the fairy lights winding along the white rafters of the ceiling. Huge posters relating to dance stuff – or so Liam inferred – turned the walls from bland to motley. The rhythmic bass line of a song could be heard from somewhere deeper in the building.

The front desk was manned by a middle-aged woman with twinkling eyes. A motherly smile was gracing her lips as she watched the three friends come closer.

Liam gulped, suddenly nervous as he walked closer to the desk, Mason and Corey hanging back awkwardly, and cleared his throat before letting out a tentative “Uuuh hello?”

“Good afternoon, young man,” the woman answered amiably. “Anything I can help you with?”

“Yeah, I– I came for a friend? I mean I came to see a friend? He should be taking one of the group lessons right about now.”

Liam could feel the heat radiating off his face. His cheeks must be bright red, he was sure of it.

“I'm afraid the lessons are not public, dear.”

“Oh,” the werewolf breathed out, surprise clear over his features. “I didn't know, I'm sorry ma'am.”

He couldn't help but feel crushing disappointment. He had really been curious – okay, he had been _dying_ to see Theo dance. He was certain the chimera would be amazing. And he wanted to be supportive, okay?

He had not considered the possibility that he might not have the right to be a spectator of those lessons. He felt thoroughly deprived. He knew he was probably looking like a kicked puppy at the moment – as he looked like when he was sad according to Mason, and even to Theo.

Liam opened his mouth to excuse himself, but the receptionist spoke first.

“Unless you came to try out the lesson?” she asked, still smiling.

“What? No, I came to–” the blonde cut himself off as the woman raised an eyebrow at him.

Liam gaped as he noticed how the mischief in her dark eyes was even more prominent than before, and took a moment to process the way out – or in that case, the way in – the woman was suggesting.

Finally, he nodded, trying to look the proper amount of eager.

“Yeah, I definitely want to check out this lesson you have right now, I love uuuuuuh”

“Street jazz?” the woman offered.

“Yep, exactly, love that.” Liam agreed with all the enthusiasm he could muster.

“And you're going to try out in your jeans because…” she trailed off, an amused question plainly visible in her tranquil gaze.

“Because I'm really really not sure yet I wanna do that style of dance,” Liam said, the story rolling off his tongue easily.

“Very well. Don't forget to bring a more comfortable outfit if, by any chance, you'd like to try out a bit more appropriately next week,” she finished with a wink.

Okay. That woman was an angel.

“You're an angel, ma'am. Thank you.”

The woman laughed, looking delighted.

“You can call me Raissa, dear. Now shoo!”

Liam nodded, a huge excited grin taking over his face, and headed to the direction Raissa was pointing out to him, each step bringing him closer to the source of a now booming bass.

“Liam, wait!” Mason called out to him, making him falter in his steps. “What about us??”

“You can't come!” the werewolf answered, sticking out his tongue at his friends for good measure.

Served them right.

He pushed the door to the studio just a tad open, and slunk into the room just as he heard Mase and Corey starting out already-doomed-to-fail negotiations with Raissa.

No one in the room noticed as Liam shut the door behind him, the music drowning out any sound he could have made. The studio strongly resembled the reception hall, but the floor was entirely covered with light-coloured hardwood, and one of the walls with floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Liam leaned against the nearest wall and observed.

Twenty or so dancers, all approximately Theo's age, were following the moves of their teacher. To the werewolf, it all looked really hard and way too fast – and quite sensual, to be completely honest –, but they all seemed to keep up easily. They must have rehearsed a lot.

Liam tilted his head to the left and – ah, there he was. _Oh, fuck_. Fuckity fuck. That was hot. _He_ was hot. Was it even legal? Liam needed a fan. Or a fuck ton of water. Whichever was available.

And the thing was – Liam was trying to stop having life crises every other day. He really was. But Theo sinfully rolling his hips while wearing what looked like a crop-top over skin-tight pants?? He who was without thirst before this sight could cast the first stone. Liam just _knew_ that images of the chimera's midriff were gonna haunt him now.

Theo's movements were fluid and sharp and precise, every gesture exuding confidence and rightness. He looked happy. He looked like he _belonged_ , and Liam was a very, very weak werewolf.

He stayed there, making himself scarce, until the lesson ended and the dancers milled around, retrieving their water bottles and draining them in large gulps, chatting among themselves and wiping the sweat from their brows.

Liam's eyes had never strayed from Theo. The chimera's enhanced awareness of his surroundings must have been hindered by his focus on dancing, for he hadn't noticed Liam's scent floating in the air until then. Theo looked confused at what his nose was picking up, his gaze searching before zeroing in on the werewolf, green eyes widening in surprise at the realization that yes, Liam was actually here.

From afar, Liam thought for one second that Theo had flushed upon seeing him, but quickly discarded the hopeful thinking for what it was. Of course the brunette's cheeks would be red, he had just been exercising. Obviously, chimeras were not immune to exertion. It was the only logical explanation for the way Theo's complexion had randomly and more and more often gotten rosier these past few weeks.

“Hey Liam, what you doin' here?”

The brunette's slightly strained voice pulled the werewolf from his musings. Liam dragged his eyes to Theo's face, trying not to linger too much on the amount of bare skin on display on the way up, and tried to project as much nonchalance as he could in the grin he sent to the chimera. A grin that might look a bit unsettlingly too grin-y, Liam realized almost instantly.

“Just thought I'd come check out your dance thing,” Liam shrugged, still trying to find how to make his face stop to contort like that, but the weird grin just wouldn't go away, that embarrassing bastard. “Wanted to see for myself if you were fine here.”

Theo cocked one perfect eyebrow, and damn him for his amused and completely normal tiny smile. He didn't remark on Liam's obviously unhinged self though, and settled for a nod, to the blonde's relief.

Before the latter could spew out any more stupidities, a tall girl with delicate features and flowing dark hair tied up in a high pony tail stepped besides Theo, handing him a water bottle and gesturing at Liam with a curious gaze.

“Who's that, Teddy?”

The wolf snarled within Liam, and he dug his claws in his palms to prevent himself from shifting completely. Teddy?? TEDDY??? _She_ had given Theo a nickname? Liam and Theo had not even passed the stage of friendly – or well, mostly friendly – insults, and that girl had only known Theo for a few weeks. Life was so unfair. And what was that nickname anyway? Liam felt like he was missing some information here.

The werewolf wanted to hate her right on sight, if only because she was objectively very attractive, even super sweaty – which was, once again, so unfair, what the actual fuck – but she also looked _so_ nice, bringing Theo water without bitching about it – Liam had told Theo to “lay your dirty hands off _my_ water bottle and go drink tap water” not even a week ago – and genuinely asking about Liam and arghhhh why was she perfectly likable.

“Tracy, meet Liam, Liam, meet Tracy,” Theo said in a rush before clearly averting his eyes from the girl's – Tracy's – as they filled with alarming glee, and which were now intensely focused on Liam.

“Oooh, _Li_ - _am_!” she said, dragging the syllables of his name with the flair of a movie villain, and the werewolf froze in terror.

She sounded like she knew all about Liam's embarrassing crush on Theo, and even if the werewolf _did_ know that it couldn't be true, that he was only being paranoid, he still couldn't help but find a disturbing resemblance between her expression and Mason's when his best friend decided to nag and mock him about his “feelings of epic proportions for a certain over-dramatic chimera”. Fortunately for Liam's sanity, Tracy seemed perfectly content to look like the cat who got the cream without commenting further.

Or rather that's what it seemed like, for all of twenty seconds. Then Tracy's smile grew larger, and she asked, with an innocent lilt in her voice:

“So Liam, now that you've seen it, what do you think of Theo's dancing? He's got moves, don't you think?”

Liam's saliva chose that very moment to pay a visit to his lungs, and he appealingly choked on air. Someone was gently patting his back, and he gratefully gulped down the bottle of water that magically appeared before him. When he finally stopped fighting for his life, Liam straightened up, only to freeze as he realized that 1) he had drank Theo's entire water bottle, which he felt part bad and part justified about – he had just come close to death! – and 2) Theo's hand was still on his shoulder, inexplicably having switched from patting to rubbing soothing circles, which was partly weirding him out and partly doing warm things to his heart.

Liam eventually rebooted his brain to display how eloquent he could be.

“Yeah, he's good,” he said, his voice not at all strangled as he tried to look anywhere but at Theo's, and failing spectacularly as he ended up staring at the chimera's midriff.

Tracy said something in return, and Theo chuckled awkwardly, but Liam couldn't hear a thing, as his eyes were glued on the sliver of stomach muscles Theo's crop-top was leaving bare, and in retrospect, he thought that he could blame it on the fact that hearing was totally related to sight. Basic knowledge right there.

The next fifteen minutes were a blur of stilted conversation, perfectly toned muscles and awkward laughter until Liam fled the room.

***

A worrying pattern emerged.

Liam would show up at the dancing school, chat with Raissa about her family life, sneak into the dance studio, watch Theo dance for the remaining of the lesson, and drive back home with him. Liam didn't know what he was trying to accomplish, but whatever it was, Raissa was onto him, greeting him with knowing looks and letting him enter the studio without an excuse anymore, and Tracy was definitely onto him as well, sending him winks and teasing him mercilessly.

And after a couple of weeks or so, it became apparent that maybe, just maybe, Theo was onto him too.

The chimera had taken to wear crop-tops at any given occasion, whether it was at home when they were playing video games together in comfy clothes, or going together at a party from one of their classmates. Liam had no idea Theo even owned that many different crop-tops.

And well, Liam had never taken so many cold showers in his life. Theo was hot on any good day, _that_ everyone could agree on. But whenever he wore the damn garment, suddenly he didn't look like the playboy he always insisted he was, no, he rather looked bashful, like even choosing to put on a crop-top was a display of something vulnerable.

Now that he had noticed that, Liam could not help but stare at him even more than before, could not help but notice the graceful sweep of his dark eyelashes on his cheekbones, the faintest shiver that coursed through his body and the nervous clench of his stomach muscles when Theo realized he was the focus of Liam's attention.

It made something stir low in Liam's belly, and the only thing he could think of was that Theo was really, really pretty, and that he would really, really like to _wreck_ him. To see him overwhelmed with pleasure, gasping for breath, shivering from Liam's touch and asking for more.

The werewolf longed to have Theo spread out beneath him in just a crop-top and nothing else, laid bare and vulnerable to Liam's gaze and Liam's only.

And well, Liam liked to think he wasn't stupid. Theo _must_ have noticed how the werewolf felt when he dressed like that – Liam wasn't exactly discreet with his chemosignals – and if he continued to do it, then it must mean something, right? So Liam wasn't even trying to hide anymore, and delighted in every slight blush he succeeded to arouse with his hungry gazes.

It all came to a head when Corey threw a party to make the best of the week they had left before they were all buried under their revisions for the finals.

Liam had called Mason for help with his outfit, and had put on a shirt that, according to his best friend, “brings out your blue eyes, not than I even notice this stuff given that I'm very in love with Corey and that you're my best friend so ew”.

He left his room and knocked on Theo's door, and here the chimera was, wearing a regular green Henley, and Liam just stared and stared. There was nothing special about the outfit, nothing sexy or outrageously hot or teasingly exposing. But Liam just stood there, and he knew he couldn't beat around the bush anymore. Theo was prettier everyday he looked at him, and opening himself up to Liam a bit more with every passing second, and Liam felt blessed and happier than ever before.

He stood there and stared, and the chimera stared right back.

They didn't know who made the first step, and in the end it didn't matter, for it had been a long time coming, and their feverish first kiss made all the wait and uncertainty worth it.

They never did get to that party, and Corey grumbled at them for two days for not showing up. But Liam learned about Theo's real name Theodore, and about Theo cutting out almost all of his shirts to make crop-tops, and Theo learned the extent of Liam's kink for them, and learned to lay his soul and body bare for Liam to take, knowing the werewolf would give him back just as much.

They learned to trust each other for what they wanted and what they were too scared to ask for. And most importantly, neither Liam nor Theo had to spend another night having a nightmare alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope the ride was fun anyway, thanks for reading!  
> Kudos and comments make me come out of my shell


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